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Newsflash, Out-Of-Touch Politicians: Not All Games Are For Kids

Saying that not all video games are for children is like saying that not all movies are for children. It's the exact same statement. It's as clear as day.

And yet, the older, out-of-touch politicians and members of the mainstream media haven't quite grasped that this is no longer 1986. The average age of a gamer in this country is now around 35 years of age; the simplest, quickest bit of research would tell you that. But unsurprisingly, the people of whom I speak are unwilling to do even that.

After the Newtown tragedy, some Senator wants the NAS to study the effects of violent games on children. ...why? Why? The effects are probably not good. In fact, we know they're not good. It's the reason why video games have ratings, ratings which are very similar to the ratings the MPAA hands out to films. The ESRB has the same responsibility and in all honesty, I believe they do a much better job than the MPAA. Violent games aren't designed for children. They aren't marketed toward children. Children can't even buy them. Games in which you shoot a lot of people? Not for kids. Games where violence is vivid and realistic? Not for kids.

So why? What the hell is the point of such a bill? The statement from that Senator sounds so painfully dated, he should be embarrassed: "Major corporations, including the video game industry, make billions on marketing and selling violent content to children." No, they do not. That's just a blatantly false statement. They can't sell violent content to children; it's against the law. You remember, don't you? When all you politicians got together and got that bill passed that said video games should have ratings? By the way, that was the last time you did anything right regarding the gaming industry; I've supported that decision since the time I was young.

But what did you think the rating system was for? If all video games are only for kids - which you clearly believe, based on that absurd statement - then what's the point of ratings? Explain that to me. No, better yet, explain to me how the words "kid" and "children" are still routinely associated with video games. Explain how you're this far gone. Nobody is marketing Call of Duty to kids. Nobody will be marketing Grand Theft Auto V to kids. No respectable retailer will sell such games to kids. No parent who has done an ounce of research will buy these games for their kids. So maybe you should opt to study something else. Anything. Anything that doesn't make you sound like a dinosaur.

Dinosaurs shouldn't be able to hold positions of power. It makes people in-the-know snicker behind their backs and roll their eyes. ...and that's the only funny part of the situation.

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It's typical grandstanding to show the people our politicians give a hoot about a hot button topic. Video games are always a scapegoat when rationalizing why a suburban kid would go ham and slaughter innocent people. Society refuses to label these guys as animals because they live next door to them in their nice neighborhoods and play with their children. So the next best thing is to blame external cognitive inputs to mask the underlying issues that caused the tragic event because no one wants to address the root cause. I imagine it going to get even harder for FPS and horror/slashers in the coming months.

If people would start taking responsibility for raising their children and for their own actions and stop expecting legislation to fix all our problems, we wouldn't have to hear about all this nonsense.

It's just another would-be regulation to exercise control over those "evil and greedy" businesses all done under the guise of our "protection." In the end it would mean more Federally funded programs to grow their existence.

The rating system has nothing to do with any proven effects on kids. There's zero proof there's any long term effect on anyone who plays violent games and isn't effed up in the head. All they've seen is short term increases in aggression but that didn't even require a violent game and not linked to the actual content IIRC and can fall into a ton of other subjects.

But yeah, it's all grand standing bullshit that politicians love to throw out at every chance they get to make it look like they're doing something.

I've noticed this as well, it's so sad to see people grasping at straws to explain a tragedy. It's like a hurricane, picking through the destruction won't answer "why?"

But I'm not afraid anymore, in the past games could have been severely hurt, now they make too much money to incur damage by politicians. But it's still pathetic to see.

My friend said something about the gun issue that I think is transferable to the game issue "Since this school shooting thing I've heard a lot of people using the term "semi-automatic" like its a big deal for somebody to have a semi-automatic gun. What would u expect them to use? A bolt action or a muzzle loader? I think people are confusing it with automatic. None of these shootings have involved machineguns."

I'm almost thinking that you've come up with and answer..instead of developing semi-auto or full auto guns that civilians can use, if you want to exercise your rights to own a gun, you have 2 options, a muzzle loaded pistol, and a bolt action rifle...or even a bow and arrow instead...and while we're at it, let's bring back the duel to settle our grudges...

Somebody better stand up for us gamers soon. Politicians are jumping on the easy bandwagon of attacking gamers and videogames for the reason of our violent culture and will continue to do so if it means they get to keep their jobs.

What people hate to admit is that the Americans are basically the modern day Vikings.

We like to smash stuff. We love to shoot stuff. We love to blow stuff up. We love monster truck wrecking. We love wrestling. We love football. We love boxing. We love the UFC.

We also love violent robot movies and violent video games and that culture is NEVER going to change.

What are they going to do to regulate violent video games? Have you register your social security or drivers license number each time you play a violent game? Force every person to get a chip inplanted in them that the console will continuosly scan for when playing violent games on it? When a young child walks into range of the scan the game will go dark until the child walks out of range? I don't see how the government can regulate this, parents have to.

The problem is that parents do not regulate what their children play. Just the other day I was in a store trying to get the attention of an associate so I could get a game behind the glass, and a mother was there humming and hawing over which game to buy her child--Black Ops 2 or Assassin's Creed 3, because that's what the kid asked for. She didn't know anything about either game, and left with AC3, still not knowing anything about it.

This is a bigger issue than just games. All of today's entertainment is awash in far too much violence and other detestable content, and no one is paying any attention to just how bad it is getting. We don't need a God of War 3 any more than we need a "Django Unchained"--insensitive to release it this week; we'll just release it next month, all better--any more than we need Game of Thrones' soft-core porn and decapitations.

It is the mindset of our current society that you MUST participate in these things simply because they exist, and as long as that mindset remains, we'll only get more and more "unthinkable" tragedies. Gun control won't stop it. Mental health systems won't stop it. You stop it, by choosing not to participate. But no one wants to do that, because they desperately need the new-thing-that-pushes-further-than-the-last-thing, and they can "handle" it. We've seen what handling it brings.

one thing that never ceases to amaze me, people and their reluctance to change stereotypes.if i had a nickel for every time i heard someone say your too old to be playing videogames, well, i wouldent have to work another second in my life!its amazing no matter how hard you try, no matter how many times you prove it wrong, they just still wont get over them.its like old grannies and their ways, mine for instance refuses to use glad wrap on anything because she says it does not keep things as fresh as tin foil does.shes constantly pulling out 1 dish at a time and checking what is in there, instead of chucking cling film on things so she can see through the top and see what things are.its amazing how when someone gets into a belief, how hard it is to shift them out of it.

Letting your child have access to your Amazon account or your credit card is just as bad as buying them games or movies without researching them first. If my kid wants something I look for it myself, read reviews, watch/play it myself, things that can educate me as to what the product is.

More parents, no EVERY parent should do this. Your kid wants to see the new action movie? Look it up and see if it's appropriate! New video game? Check out some online vids! Oh, a new book by that popular author? Check it our and make sure it's not about something stupid like sparkling vampires! Do they not care about their kids or are they just blind to what's going on around them.

I can almost see blindly buying video games, if only because they really were for kids years ago and people are ignorant and have not realized those kids are adults now and games are still being made for them, adult games!

We need younger people in politics, that might help. Not just with issues like this but for others as well.

It's sabre rattling guys! Look, a sabre make all sorts of noise if you shake it in someone's face, drawing a sabre makes no noise at all. They are wanting to blame anyone and everyone EXCEPT the lunatic who committed the crime. What ever happened to personal responsibility? Oh, that's right, this nation has bought into being victims, lock, stock, and barrel. My household is a gaming household, if it said M-17, and that kid was UNDER 17...not happening. Nope, grow up some then come talk to me about it.

I digress, it's NOT the games, it's NOT the guns, it's the effin lunatics who cause problems, and I don't care how many laws you pass, you can't legislate and regulate crazy. Crazy people are just that, crazy, they don't care about laws or what is or isn't right, they can't make the choice within a mindset of a rational thinking person. Point blank. Timothy McVeigh didn't use a gun....did we regulate box trucks, fertilizer and diesel fuel? Well, did we? No. We didn't. He was responsible, and we provided justice accordingly. Don't place blame where blame isn't due, and don't accuse legitimate businesses as the cause, it was a crazy, lunatic, frakked out person. Blaming the gaming community or the gun owners will NOT SAVE ONE CHILD! Not one!